Newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Jürgen Ligi (Reform) confirmed that he supported the government’s campaign for Estonia to become a temporary member on the United Nations Security Council.

Ligi said to ERR’s Estonian news portal that being a member would enable Estonia to contribute in matters of international security, raise the country’s profile internationally.

According to Ligi, the campaign is going on in New York as well as elsewhere around the globe. It demanded for greater attention to be paid to regional organizations, and to the bilateral relationship with countries that Estonia didn’t have everyday connections to, Ligi said.

A team had been assembled in the ministry that would deal with the details over the next two and a half years, Ligi said, adding that this would mark the campaign’s most intense period.

Ligi also said that Estonia’s membership wouldn’t be just a formality. “The decisions were made long before I came in, work has been done for it, and it’s a valid goal.”

The plan to campaign for temporary membership on the UN Security Council had previously been criticized by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, in whose assessment Estonia couldn’t manage to see any of its own aims through, as the five permanent members could veto any proposal of a temporary member anyway.